Chapter Thirty: The Corpulent Zombie

After loading the crossbow bolt into the groove, Qin Fei crouched, aiming his iron crossbow at the undead cheerleader. At this moment, the advantage of the iron crossbow became apparent. If he were holding a hunting bow, he would have had to draw the bowstring while aiming, causing his hands to tremble from the exertion and compromising accuracy. If his shot missed and failed to kill the zombie instantly, it would certainly awaken, triggering a chain reaction. The entire building could be roused by the commotion. If all the zombies awakened, the best outcome would be Qin Fei escaping empty-handed; the worst, he'd be killed by the horde. Hunting bows caused trembling during aim, but the iron crossbow did not. Its string was held by a trigger—firing required only a simple release, making it far more accurate.

Qin Fei squeezed the trigger, sending the bolt flying. The force was tremendous; the bolt pierced straight through the cheerleader zombie’s skull. Her head lolled to the side, and she fell silent. Qin Fei repeated the process, dispatching two more zombies hidden inside the room. After clearing the floor, he ascended from the warehouse’s second story to the rooftop. There, perched atop the air conditioning unit, was a vulture—not an ordinary one, but mutated by the virus. Parts of its body were devoid of flesh, exposing red bone beneath. In the game, such mutated vultures were notoriously troublesome; careless players could easily be ambushed. Fortunately, it was currently asleep.

The zombie vulture’s hiding spot was well-concealed, its small size making it nearly impossible to spot without the system’s yellow indicator. Qin Fei raised his crossbow, took aim, and fired. The vulture was far more fragile than zombies; a single bolt to the chest killed it instantly.

There was a gap in the rooftop, for reasons unknown. Qin Fei slipped through it, landing on the bakery’s second floor. Two zombies lurked there as well. Qin Fei, now increasingly adept with his iron crossbow, swiftly dispatched them and descended to the ground floor.

The bakery was stocked with food. At the counter, Qin Fei discovered several loaves of bread wrapped in transparent plastic, miraculously preserved.

Near the counter, he found not only bread, but also a row of cream puffs and donuts displayed within a glass cabinet. These sweets were packed with high-calorie sugar and cream. In a post-apocalyptic world, cream was a rare treat. Here, survival depended on calories, not the risk of obesity—no one could resist cream in such times.

Qin Fei did not immediately approach. He noticed a yellow indicator behind the cabinet, suggesting a hidden zombie in that spot. He hunched, slowly circling to the other side of the counter. Behind it, a zombie lay sprawled on the floor, dressed in a plaid shirt and immensely obese, a half-eaten donut resting on his stomach. Qin Fei had never seen a zombie fatter than this one.

He raised his iron crossbow, took aim, and fired expertly, striking the zombie’s head with precision.

A guttural howl escaped the fat zombie, who did not die. Instead, he staggered upright and advanced rapidly toward Qin Fei. Surprised, Qin Fei had never before seen a zombie survive a headshot.

As the fat zombie lumbered toward him, Qin Fei retreated quickly, backing up to the second floor beneath the rooftop gap. There was no ladder around the gap; while he could descend from the roof, ascent was impossible. He had nowhere else to retreat.

Thankfully, it was daytime, and Qin Fei had already cleared the zombies from the building, leaving only the fat zombie, who sluggishly pursued him, green fluid oozing from its belly in a revolting display.

Qin Fei raised his iron crossbow and fired three consecutive bolts at the zombie’s chest. When shooting at a moving zombie, he never risked aiming for the head unless certain. As the fat zombie approached, Qin Fei’s third bolt felled it. He quickly reloaded and fired another shot at its head.

Another tortured howl escaped the zombie as its body began swelling, ballooning grotesquely.

Qin Fei frowned, immediately realizing the zombie was about to self-destruct. Sensing danger, he grabbed the stair railing and rolled down from the second floor. As he leapt, the fat zombie’s abdomen expanded to an unnatural size, and it exploded.

The blast threw Qin Fei heavily to the ground from the second floor. Blood, flesh, and viscous green fluid sprayed everywhere from the explosion. Qin Fei endured the nausea and crawled to his feet; he had narrowly avoided the blast, but the shockwave had knocked him from above.

After such a fall, Qin Fei felt as though his whole body might fall apart.

[Your experience has reached the required threshold. Your level has increased!]
[Skill acquired: Stealth Strike!]
[Stealth Strike: Skilled at ambushing resting or wandering enemies while sneaking. Stealth attacks deal 50% additional damage.]

He had leveled up. Qin Fei was momentarily stunned, but not entirely surprised. Unlike the game The Long, Dark Night, the world of Seven Days to Die allowed players to level up by killing zombies, enhancing their skills with each advancement. To his astonishment, the world he had crossed into followed the same rules.

Once his body recovered somewhat, Qin Fei forced himself upright and began scavenging the bread from the shelves. Besides the bounty of bread and the cream puffs and donuts in the glass cabinet, he found a jar of sugar, some rotten eggs, and a large sack of flour in the storage shelves.

Qin Fei tossed the rotten eggs aside, storing the other items in his system backpack.

Night had fallen. If he were to return now, he would likely be caught outside before reaching halfway, as the zombies would become aggressive after dark. It was far too dangerous to leave now.

After careful consideration, Qin Fei decided to spend the night in the bakery.